-- THE ARCHIVE --

CANADA

The Calgary Sun, 1 June 1999

Courting parental discipline

Absurd changes in law would turn parents into criminals

Some well-meaning but possibly inexperienced child-care "experts"
believe all parental spanking should be outlawed.

And some child-advocacy lawyers have launched a court challenge
to do just that.

It is my belief the courts should not make criminals out of parents
who use reasonable disciplinary measures with their kids. Removing
the rights of parents to discipline their children will mean more
state intrusion into family life and turn the vast majority of parents
into criminals.

A lobby group called the Canadian Foundation for Children, Youth
and the Law is now trying to limit parental discipline. Aided by $40,
000 in taxpayers' money, compliments of the federal Court Challenges
Program, it has filed a court challenge against Section 43 of the
Criminal Code, which states a parent may use corrective force toward
a child, "if the force does not exceed what is reasonable under the
circumstances."

Real abuse must not be tolerated. However, Sec. 43 simply allows
a parent to "push the reset button" on a hysterical or rebellious
kid, without fear of the social workers. Removing Sec. 43 would in
fact harm efforts to target real child abuse. Police would be forced
to take parents into custody for questioning and to lay charges.

If you use reasonable correction, you would risk public humiliation
and separation from your children. Ironically, your children would
suffer the most.

If we get to this point, it will not have been the decision of
duly elected parliamentarians, responding to calls from their constituents.
The battle over spanking, like so many other social policy questions,
isn't being debated in Parliament. It's being decided by unelected
judges. Once again, we see a lobby group using tax dollars to make
an end-run around the democratic process.

In court, "child's rights" advocates state that corporal punishment
violates the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child. In fact,
the Convention says nothing about outlawing parental discipline. Yet
in 1995, the U.N. criticized Canada for having Sec. 43 on the books,
and it will surely do so again this year, after Canada submits its
second U.N. Convention compliance report.

Anti-discipline lobbyists won't tell you that the convention has
no democratic legitimacy; it was never debated nor voted upon in any
Canadian legislature.

These lobby groups must rely on the courts because they have neither
the scientific research nor public support to repeal Sec. 43 democratically:

- A chair of the annual American Academy of Pediatrics conference
insists: "There's no evidence that a child who is spanked moderately
is going to grow up to be a criminal or antisocial or violent."

- In the first two years of the Swedish spanking ban, 22,000 children
were seized from their homes by social workers, itself is a form of
child abuse.

Brock University and University of Manitoba studies find that
70-75% of parents use corporal punishment. A Justice Department document
notes that 67% of Canadians did not favour physical disciplining of
children being made a criminal offence.

Real child abuse and neglect must be quickly addressed, but parents
should have the prerogative to discipline within limits set by Sec.
43. Studies like the Ontario Incidence Study of Abuse show that for
over 99.5% of children, parental authority is not abusive.

Parents, not governments, are best suited to determine the needs
of their children.

Removing Sec. 43 of the Criminal Code will make criminals of loving
parents and will cause more harm than good. Maintaining the legal
acknowledgement of reasonable corporal punishment shows respect for
democratic process and respect for Canadian parents.